Vending machines are widely used to dispense beverages, food, and other perishable and nonperishable goods. Many vending machines, particularly those that dispense beverages, have column walls or partitions between which the individual bottles or cans and the like are stacked in a vertical column. At the bottom of any given stack is a dispensing mechanism that dispenses a selected bottle or can after receipt of payment by the vending machine. One type of dispensing mechanism is known as a bucket type mechanism. Generally, bucket type dispensing mechanisms have a partial cylindrical shape that accommodates within it a row of bottles or cans that is positioned laterally relative to the length of the cylinder. A portion of the circumference of the cylinder, however, is open, therefore allowing the bottles or cans to enter into, and exit from the bucket at various stages of the vend cycle. A motor or other rotational means rotates the bucket about its axis. A gauging means, appropriately located below the bucket, is used to create steps of various sizes, which generally correspond to the length of the individual cans or bottles being dispensed. The opening in the bucket is of a sufficient size so that when rotated to a certain point, the first bottle or can is free to fall out of the bucket dispenser and into the product chute through which it is dispensed to the customer, while the next to vend bottle or can remains in the bucket, held by the next gauging step. During subsequent vends, the bucket rotates to expose the next bottle or can, allowing it to fall. After all products have been dispensed from the bucket, the dispensing mechanism continues through the reload phase of the vend cycle whereby the next row of products enter the bucket in preparation for the subsequent vending cycles. The positions at which the rotation of the bucket stops during the vending cycles are generally controlled by a switch that engages a timing cam mounted on the motor shaft. The switch signals a motor controller to stop the motor at predetermined positions. The timing cam is adjustable to vary the number of stopping positions in order to accommodate the variable number of products in a row. Thus, products are initially seated within the bucket, but are unseated and dispensed as the bucket rotates.
Typically, the gauging means must be reconfigured to accommodate the variability of the diameter of the product being dispensed. In this case, the gauging means is created by a series of steps on the lower edge of the partition, and a series of steps on the vending edge of the bucket. The opposite edge of the bucket is straight. In this case, this edge is used to lower a row of products into the bucket during the reload phase of the vend cycle. This is significant in that in most conventional bucket type dispensing mechanisms, the motor rotates the bucket in a constant direction 360° about its axis, therefore the edge of the bucket that is used to lower the product into the bucket during the reload phase of the vend cycle is also used to gauge product out of the bucket during the dispensing phase of the vend cycle. Therefore, if the gauging edge of the bucket is stepped to help control the dispensing of product, it can cause undesirable conditions during the reload phase. Namely, when a row of products is being lowered into the bucket, and if the bucket edge being used to lower these products is stepped, the tendency is that the individual products within a product row enter the bucket at different times. This causes the uniformity of the entire column of product to shift relative to itself front to back. This shifting can result in a number of problems that ultimately can lead to undesirable operation of the vending mechanism. To avoid this undesirable condition, the movement of the bucket can be controlled in a way that results in an oscillating movement, thereby allowing one “straight” edge of the bucket to control the lowering of product into the bucket during the reload phase of the vend cycle, and the other “stepped” edge of the bucket to function as a gauging mean in the dispensing phase of the vend cycle. In the past, this type of oscillating motion has been achieved by use of complex “crank and link” mechanisms that couple the motor to the bucket.
Vending machines of this type are vulnerable to various methods to attempt to obtain product without paying. After a product has been dispensed, and additional products remain in the bucket, the opening that was created to free the first product dispensed remains. If the next product in the bucket is caused to move forward into the space previously occupied by the first product, it will be unseated and drop through the opening onto the product chute through which it is dispensed to, in this case, a thief. This forward movement of product can be achieved by rocking or tipping the vending machine, or by some individual reaching their arm, or some device such as a wire, through the product chute. To combat this type of theft, existing vending machines having bucket type dispensing mechanisms have incorporated additional “anti-theft” clips or devices. These devices generally hang down, or spring up in the bucket to create a barrier or obstacle that prevents or discourages product from moving forward in the bucket and thus not allowing the product to drop through the opening through which the first, or previously vended, product passed. Although these clips have added additional cost and complexity to each vending machine, they have not succeeded in eliminating this type of theft.